Nobody could have imagined a bigger wave of property transfers through inheritance in Alicante than what happened last year. The rise in property transfers is tied to higher mortality rates during the pandemic, improved tax controls thanks to new technologies, and a buoyant real estate market that pushed ownership changes upon the passing of previous owners to record levels. Alicante set a historic peak in 2022, marking the second consecutive year of record activity in the province.
Data released this Friday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE) show that last year 20,576 properties changed hands through inheritance, up by 129 from 2021, which itself surpassed all previous records in INE’s historical series dating back to 2007. This represents an 11 percent increase compared with 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, during which the spike in deaths from the uncontrolled spread of the virus was lower yet still present in the statistics.
In the most recent year, inherited properties numbered 10,292, reflecting a 6 percent rise from the prior year. In other words, about one in seven houses that changed ownership in the province did so due to inheritance reasons.
Less rustic farms
Conversely, 2022 saw a decline in the formalization of legacies involving rural properties, totaling 4,347, an 11.5 percent drop. This decline comes after a surge in the previous year when rural legacies had recovered more than 30 percent. The strong demand for chalets and detached homes after the lockdown likely influenced the reorganization of older estates, contributing to shifts in how these inheritances are structured.
Evolution of heritage in Alicante INE
Delfín Martínez, vice dean of the Valencian Notary College in Alicante, described the rise in formalized legacies while acknowledging several contributing factors. The improved system for verifying fraud and ensuring proper taxation across administrations has reduced friction and increased clarity in transfers following a death. When a death occurs, the information now flows to the Cadastre via the Population Directorate, giving city halls and the Generalitat instant visibility into the status of estates.
Both administrations are required to collect two taxes in these cases: the municipal surplus value and the inheritance tax. However, in the latter case, relatively few cases exceed the exemption threshold of the first 100,000 euros inherited by each child, making the tax bill manageable for many families in practice.
Alicante leads the boom in home sales in Spain last year
Another factor worth considering is the revival of the real estate market itself. With rising demand, the likelihood of selling a home and converting assets into cash increases. This fuels a keener interest in formalizing transfers promptly and, in some cases, arranging long-standing situations such as selling a grandparent’s house. Something notable is the growing tendency to relinquish inheritances, a trend that has appeared after years of uninterrupted growth according to notaries sources. Data up to the third quarter show that the number of relinquishments dipped from 1,540 in 2021 to 1,443 in the latest period.
In total, Alicante province registered 70,916 property transfers last year. Of these, 49,858 were sales, 10,292 were inherited, 1,517 were donations, 82 involved swaps, and 9,167 were listed under other unspecified reasons by INE.